"Marcos told the player his decision was correct, and he should play on. He didn’t expect the footballer’s reaction.

“You can see things happened suddenly.

“Alcione appears to run up to my client who stands still on the spot. Marcos never expected anything like this to happen, so he didn’t react when the player came towards him. He was surprised by the player’s aggressive attitude.

“Before he knew it, he was headbutted and kicked in the face as he fell to the ground.”

The ref lay stricken on the ground as players from both sides intervened

The cup final, which ended with a 6 to 4 win to Fluminense da Bahia, was stopped 16 minutes into the second half as anxious colleagues rushed to tend to the injured ref.

Santos added: “Marcos has suffered extremely serious head injuries and x-rays show a crack in his skull.

“He was hospitalised to avoid trauma and there is a real risk this injury could develop with more serious and life-threatening consequences. We are talking about a serious bodily injury and my client is in a great deal of pain.

Cristiano Ronaldo appears on news broadcast as he has a boogie behind TV presenter in Juventus training

“Depending on the intensity of the injury this could lead to grievous bodily harm charges. We will wait for the investigation to be completed in 30 days before reaching a decision. In the meantime, I just hope the health of my client doesn’t deteriorate.”

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 26 September at a Special Criminal Court, which is a body that promotes conciliation and adjudication.

But Santos intends to push for the case to be transferred to a criminal court.